A car mirror inspired by a disco ball claims to be able to eliminate dangerous driver blind spots.

The invention of a maths professor, the 'wide angle substantially non-distorting mirror' is slightly curved, giving drivers a far better field of view.

The side-view mirrors on most cars are flat and while they give drivers an accurate sense of the distance of cars behind them, they have a narrow field of view, leaving a space behind the vehicle - the blind spot - that a driver can't see.

Mirror: The car mirror, pictured, dramatically increases the field of view with minimal distortion

The new design, however, avoids that, giving the driver a field of view of about 45 degrees, compared with 15 to 17 degrees of view in a flat driver's side mirror.

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'Imagine that the mirror's surface is made of many smaller mirrors turned to different angles, like a disco ball,' said R. Andrew Hicks, a maths professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia, who came up with theidea.

'Each ray of light bouncing off the mirror shows the driver a wide, but not too distorted, picture of the scene behind him.'

Disco: The mirror's surface is made of many smaller mirrors turned to different angles, like a disco ball

Curve: Curved mirrors are allowed only if they include the phrase, 'Objects in mirror are closer than they appear' (file photo)

The professor, who stressed the mirror does not resemble a disco ball, now hopes the mirror could be sold as an aftermarket product for cars, as U.S. regulations require new cars to have a flat mirror on the driver's side.

Curved mirrors are allowed for passenger-side mirrors only if they include the phrase, 'Objects in mirror are closer than they appear'.

However, it could be fitted as standard in some European countries, and Mr Hicks said he was already in talks with interested firms.